Nov. 15, 2009
Box Score
BROOKLYN, NY - Trailing by as many as 20 points in the first half, the La Salle Women's Basketball, behind Ashley Gale and Morgan Robertson, who each had 15 points after halftime, stormed back, forced overtime and defeated Long Island, 77-73, Sunday night at the Wellness Center.
After scoring the first basket of the game, the Explorers were forced into eight consecutive turnovers and came up empty on 10 straight possessions as Long Island mounted a 13-point lead at 15-2.
A quick 6-0 run - with Chelsea Conner scoring four points in the one-minute span - pulled La Salle to within seven (17-10), but back-to-back threes by the Blackbirds and Heidi Mothershead's eight point of half increased her team's lead to 15.
The lead was still 15 with five minutes before the break, when Robertson scored her first bucket of the evening to make the score 31-18. When she scored her next basket at the 2:39 mark, it stopped a 7-0 Long Island run which had given the home team a 20-point advantage, the Blackbirds largest of the night.
Long Island (0-1) took a 16-point lead into the locker rooms (38-22), which was aided by 15 Explorer turnovers that were turned into 26 points, and the Blackbirds also scored 15 fast-break points.
The second half started just as the first half, with Jenna Gilbert scoring the first points, but this half would turn out better for La Salle.
With 17:15 left in regulation, the Explorers still trailed by 16 (43-27), before a 9-0 run over the next four minutes capped by a Nadia Duncan layup at the 12:49 mark cut their deficit to seven at 43-36.
Three minutes later and with a nine-point deficit (48-39), La Salle used a 10-0 run - five straight scored by Gale and Jamie Walsh knocked down back-to-back threes - to give the Explorers their first lead at 49-48.
Long Island responded with six straight points with Ashley Palmer capping the run at the 6:16 mark and the hosts up five.
The lead was still five with 4:10 remaining before Robertson scored five straight points on her own to knot the score at 58. She then answered a pair of made foul shots with her own to tie the game back up at 60.
Gale, who had three steals in the game, came up with her biggest with less than a minute remaining, when she stole an inbounds pass and went in for a layup to put the Explorers up 62-60 with 57 ticks left.
Forty seconds later, Walsh stepped to the line and put La Salle up three (64-61), however Connie James sank her only made three of the game with five seconds remaining to send the game into an extra session.
La Salle (1-1) never trailed in overtime, as Walsh hit her third three of the game to start the period, and after a James basket, Gale and Robertson added baskets to put La Salle up five with 2:09 left.
Robertson put the Explorers up six at 75-69 with just over one minute left, but it took a pair of Tara Lapetina free throws with 27 seconds remaining to finally put the finishing touch on the Blackbirds.
Robertson ended the night with a game-high 21 points and eight rebounds, while Gale scored 19 with three assists. Walsh added 11 points with a career-high eight assists, while Gilbert scored nine and had five boards. Conner tied her career-high with six points and had two blocks in a career-high 21 minutes, while Danielle Callahan pulled down six rebounds.
La Salle finished the game with 20 turnovers, but also had 21 assists.
For the Blackbirds, they had two players with double-doubles, Palmer with 18 points, 11 rebounds and Kiara Evans with 10 points and 11 assists. Their leading scorer was James with 21 points and added eight rebounds and four steals.
The Explorers are now off for four days before taking a Midwest road trip to Oklahoma and Kansas. Their first stop is a 1:00 tip at Oral Roberts on Friday afternoon.
